DOJ Stands Up For Religious Freedom in Mississippi Lawsuit

A Mississippi Churches lawsuit was intercepted by the Justice Department, as police ticketed congregants at a drive-in service.

Temple Baptist Church Sues Police

Greenville, Mississippi’s Temple Baptist Church is suing Greenville police after officers started fining congregants $500 because of their refusal to leave a parking lot during a drive-in service. The church has won the support of Department of Justice, with the DOJ saying that statements of interest are regularly filed on “important issues of religious liberty in courts at every level.”

The DOJ is supporting the Temple Baptist Church based on the most simple logic – Greenville isn’t restricting citizens from going to drive-in restaurants with their windows open, so it makes no sense to single out churches, as the service participants were following CDC and state social distancing recommendations.

The DOJ’s intervention in the Greenville drama comes after the church challenged Mayor Erick Simmons’ April 7 order on outright bans of drive-in church services. The Department summed the measures up as “neither neutral nor generally applicable.”

As more and more social distancing measures are being implemented in an effort to contain the spread of the Coronavirus, religious services have become a major issue for governments, as the prohibition of large gatherings in the face of holidays will most likely be broken, as citizens are looking to religion in these difficult times.

Attorney General William Barr said that the Justice Department will be working in full to ensure that “religious freedom remains protected,” and that discrimination against houses of worship will not be tolerated.